Once again the team was faced with a high pressure game, and once again only a couple players showed up.
This loss had a lot of fans upset; once again pulling out their hair and looking for answers. Blaming goaltending, coaching, and in my case, the socks I was wearing. Fact of the matter was, we sent boys and sensitive artistes to war, and they got run over by soldiers.
The veterans were aweful, and the kids were not capable of dealing with the momentous task at hand. Why? Why is it that our young talent can't find their game? Why are the veterans afraid to lead? Why does the team show up scared to play hockey on nights they need to play well?
Doesn't matter. The injuries to this team have turned out to be vital. The team was obviously still on the recovery trail, and not ready to face this kind of setback. I dunno what team would really; Anaheim without Neidermayer and Pronger... Detroit without Linstrom and Rafalski... Pittsburgh without Gonchar and Whitney.
Tonight we needed stellar goaltending; we got good* goaltending. We needed strong centers to help shoulder the defensive load, win faceoffs... we got floaters and poke checkers. We needed big shots and stinky goals... we hit posts. We needed veterans to lead the way; our best players were those with typically the least amount of icetime. We needed defence, and got Komisarek's jock. (it saved a goal in the third, after Price went spinning out of the net.)
* sometimes not so good
Wash it off boys, 2 games to play, and we need 1 point to get our tickets to Boston. If we even want to prolong this massive 4 month long punch in the stomach.
The Good
Higgins, Metro and Dandenault played great. Lapierre and Latender did alright. D'Agostini had a lot of harmless shots. Price made 41 saves. Komisarek hit Avery pretty good, then his jock saved a goal.
The Bad
Hamrlik and Brisebois were painfully lacking. Koivu was aweful tonight, although he did hit the post with 2 minutes to go (far too little too late). That line had 1 official shot, from Kovalev. Pleks and AK46 were nowhere to be seen.
The Ugly
Poor Josh Gorges had a terrible game. He was at least as responsible for the 2nd goal, as he should have given Price either the pass option sooner, or made sure Avery didn't hit the goalie. In defensive zone coverage, he spent most of his time turning it over and falling down, or spinning around on the spot. There was little to no backcheck by the Big Lines early in the game, hanging the weakened D out to dry.
2 more games: either we get a point (unlikely) or maybe Florida will drop one (unlikely, they play loser teams) but we we can still get those tickets to Boston.
It would be an Epic limp into the playoffs.
Posts
New Beginnings for Rocket Sports
1 year ago
I don't know if I can watch these guys playing like this for much longer. It's just too painful to watch.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. When the Habs play poorly, it really hurts because when they play well, they look like a really good team. Also, every time the fans are expecting a big game from the team, they have a tendency to play like crap.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like they just aren't trying, when really I think its more like they are a wide-eyed and stunned.